THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Fourth-year guard Maddy Horst once again led the purple and white with a team-high 15 points to lead the Western women's basketball team in a 65-52 road loss to the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday evening.

With the loss, the Mustangs fall to 0-2 on the weekend road trip against the Thunderwolves and drop to a 5-13 record on the season, good enough to remain in eighth place in the OUA West division. The Thunderwolves' victory improves their record to an impressive 14-4 record in the season, as they narrowly trail the McMaster Marauders for OUA West supremacy.

Two other Mustangs scored in double-figures for the purple and white on the night, as Katie Bastedo chipped in 12 points, while Emma Johnson added 11 points and five rebounds to help the cause.

The Thunderwolves were led by Nikki Ylagan, who once again played well against the purple and white, pouring in 21 points while shooting an efficient 5-10 from beyond the arc.

Ylagan helped Lakehead create an intimidating scoring margin throughout the first half, scoring a quick 12 points to lead the game through the opening two quarters of play. On the other side of the ball, the Thunderwolves' defence held three of the Mustangs' starters scoreless in the first half to jump out to a 33-25 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter was closely contested, as Western locked down the paint to begin the half and forced Lakehead into low-percentage shots to claw themselves back into the game. However, despite the impressive second-half play from the purple and white, an inability to carry a sustained scoring run saw their comeback attempt cut short in the 65-52 loss.

The Mustangs will be back in action this Wednesday, January 30, where they will host the Laurier Golden Hawks in their second and final meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6:00 P.M. EST in Alumni Hall and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv.